PostStream
A social network with the metrics taken out.
2016 · with Ray Farias and Jacoby Young
Artist statement
Every social network puts a number on everything you post: likes, followers, shares, what's trending. PostStream is an undesigned social network, built without any of them.
Most of the work was deciding what to leave out. It shows no like counts and no follower counts, so you can't see how popular anyone is. There's no global feed, no trending topics and no news to browse, and you can't post images, video or GIFs.
Ben Grosser's Facebook Demetricator, a browser extension from 2012, hides the like and friend counts on Facebook, and PostStream was built without them in the first place.
Replies work the same way. You don't write them, you pick one: agree, disagree, agree or disagree because of something, tell me more about something, thank you for sharing, or brilliant.
Try it
How it's made
React · Node.js · Express · PostgreSQL
The stream shows the first 256 characters of each post, with a read more that goes up to 2,048. Most of the reply choices never got built in 2016. I finished them in November 2026, along with the feed that only shows people you follow.
Someone else owns poststream.io now. The archived copy at poststream.joekarlsson.com has no server: it runs in your browser, signs you in as a sample visitor, and a few made-up people keep posting while you look around. Anything you post stays in your browser.
The full app is React on a Node and Express server with PostgreSQL. The archive is the same React app with a stand-in that answers its requests inside your browser and keeps everything in localStorage. The sample people post or reply every 12 to 25 seconds, and someone answers your post within 6 to 14 seconds.
Lineage
If you liked this project, consider sharing it on Hacker News, Bluesky, LinkedIn, or X.
← All works